Wire rope splice and method of making the same



y 9, 1949. w. HOBBS, JR mmm WIRE ROPE SPLICE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed 000. 3, 1945 1N V ENTOR fizz/AM 5955.5; Jf

ATTORN EU Patented July 19, 1949 WIRE ROPE SPLICE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME William Hobbs, Jr., Morrisville, Pa., assignor to John A. Roeblings Sons Company, Trenton. N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 3, 1945, Serial No. 619,967

6 Claims.

This invention relates to sleeve splices for wire ropes or cables and methods of making them, the object of the invention being to provide an improved sleeve splice securing the full strength of the rope while simple and cheap to manufacture.

The invention is especially applicable in connection with rope eyes formed by bending back the dead end of the rope to form the eye and securing this to the live rope by compressing or swaging a sleeve over the two portions of the rope, but the broader features of the invention are applicable, also, in connection with splicing wire ropes together in other relations and for other purposes.

For a full understanding of the invention a detailed description will now be given, in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, of a rope eye with sleeve splice embodying the invention in a preferred form and made by the preferred method, and the features forming the invention will then be specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side'view of the rope eye with the sleeve enclosing the dead end and live rope before compression or swaging of the sleeve;

Figure 2 shows a completed eye;

Figure 3 is an enlarged illustrative cross section through the sleeve and ropes of Figure 2, this Figure 3 showing a fiber center rope;

Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating the die action for compressing or swaging the sleeve about the ropes, the dies being shown in a preferred form and in position for pressing;

Figure 5 is a similar view showing the second step in the pressing operation, from which further action of the dies compresses the sleeve and ropes into the form like that shown in Figures 2 and 3;

Figure 6 is an enlarged view similar to Figure 4, with a rope having a wire strand center; and

Figure 7 is a view illustrating the sleeve, ropes and dies of Figure 6 in the completed form of the splice.

Referring to the drawings, the rope eye is shown as of a common form consisting of the live rope A bent to form the eye and with the dead end B compressed or swaged with the rope A in the sleeve C, the eye being shown as having the common thimble or lining D, although this may be omitted and the eye may be of any other form.

The preferred method of forming the splice by compressing or swaging the sleeve dead end,

and live rope together is by compression of the sleeve and ropes within the suitably formed dies E, F, illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, either with or without turning of the sleeve between pressing steps.

The live rope is first passed through the sleeve and bent to form the eye, the strands of the dead end B of Figures 1 to 3 are then spread by opening the dead end and then pushed through the sleeve so as to enclose partially or fully, and preferably only partially, the live rope A, as shown in Figure 1, and the sleeve is then compressed under heavy pressure over the live rope A and the spread strands of the dead end B to form the sleeve splice as shown in Figures 2 and 3. In this die compression, the ropes and sleeve will pass through the intermediate form illustrated in Figure 5 to the final form of Figure 3, securing a uniform and strong grip of the sleeve on the ropes with the live rope running straight through the sleeve.

The ends of the sleeve are formed at such an angle that the taper of the sleeve ends is substantially retained in the pressing operation and the sleeve reduced by flowing of the metal so as to elongate the sleeve while retaining this angle in the splice, as shown in the completed thimble splice of Figure 2. The bore of the sleeve is thus straight and uniform and grips the ropes throughout and the rope moves smoothly with no sharp shoulders on the sleeve. For this result the ends of the thimble are preferably formed with an angle of 40 to depending upon conditions of the metal and the swaging pressure and method used. r

In Figure 3, the live rope A is shown complete with its fiber center I at the lower right of the sleeve and the strands and fibrous center 2 of the dead end B are spread around the top left side and bottom of the live rope, but it will be understood that this is only illustrative and a cross section of the complete splice will show difierent arrangements of the rope, dead end strands and fiber, depending upon the character of the rope and the swaging pressure and method of swaging used. The only important feature is that the live rope A shallnot be bent in the sleeve, but shall be central to the eye and straight through the sleeve, so that the pull on the live rope is in a straight line, thus securing the full strength of the rope. With the die pressing shown and heavy pressure, the metal of the sleeve flows into the voids within the sleeve and the sleeve may be thickened slightly at the right and left sides, as shown in Figure 7, which lat ter feature in the method shown aids in compacting the splice, but is not essential, depending upon the swaging actionemployed.

In Figures 6 and 7 I have illustrated the thimble splice eye with a rope having a wire rope center, Figure 6 showing the live rope G with the rope center 3, the strands of the dead end H spread around the top of the live rope G and the seven strands of the wire rope center 4 of the dead end spread between the live rope and dead end. It will be understood that this is only an unopened live section of wire rope which comprises said section of unopened rope passing straight through an open end sleeve of straight circular bore with said rope end opened and the strands introduced into the sleeve about said unopened section, said sleeve being die pressed upon said section and strands so that its external diameter is reduced, the sleeve is elongated and the walls thereof are thickened.

2. A wire rope eye splice which comprises an unopened live section of wire rope passing straight through an open end sleeve of uniform bore with the helically laid wire strands of the dead end of the rope separated and introduced into the sleeve in a form spread about the helically laid wire strands of said unopened section, said sleeve being die pressed upon said section and strands so that the sleeve is reduced in external diameter,

elongated and the walls thereof are thickened.

strands thereof introduced into the sleeve about strands of the opened member about the heli- I cally laid wire strands of another unopened rope member, and compressing a sleeve of uniform circular bore upon said spread wire strands and unopened rope member under such pressure as to compress the spread strands about a major portion of the peripheral surface of said unopened member.

5. A method of forming a wire rope eye splice which comprises passing a section of wire rope through an open end metal sleeve having a straight bore of uniform size, opening the dead end of the wire rope to separate the strands thereof and introducing said strands into said sleeve in a form spread about the unopened live section of wire rope, and compressing the sleeve about said live section and spread strands with sufficient pressure to reduce the diameter of the sleeve, thicken the walls thereof and compress said spread strands about a major portion of the peripheral surface of said live section.

6. A method of forming a wire rope splice which comprises passing an unopened section of one of a pair of rope member through an open end sleeve having a uniform circular bore with its open ends tapered at an angle between 40 and to the axis of said sleeve, opening an end of the other of said rope members to spread the wire strands thereof and introducing said spread wire strands into the sleeve in a position distributed about the helically laid strands of said unopened member, and compressing the sleeve throughout its length to reduce its diameter and produce elongation thereof and to compress the spread strands about a major portion of the surface of the unopened rope member. 7

WILLIAM HOBBS,- JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 219,860 Healey Sept. 23, 1879 826,063 Reid July 17, 1906 1,368,480 Brown Feb, 15, 1921 1,387,334 Vignos Aug. 9, 1921 1,397,040 Dillon Nov. 15, 1921 1,720,272 Harris July 9, 1929 1,927,382 Andrew Sept. 19, 1933 2,276,571 Grympa Mar. 17, 1942 2,327,683 Warner Aug. 24, 1943 2,346,412 Bratz Apr. 11, 1944 

